Curiosity Killed the Spy
by NightSong0123
Summary: Marina Lockwell was just a normal girl from Montana, until she is swept into the world of spies when she is accepted into Gallagher Academy, a school for female students. Between the constant rivalry with Blackthorne that looms over her shoulders and her unquenchable curiosity, she uncovers secrets better left buried. After all, curiosity killed the cat...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I looked out the window, staring blankly at the dismal landscape. It was just a small town; full of normal looking houses, normal looking businesses, normal…everything. Yep, Roseville Virginia is not exactly a hopping town. But where I was going was nowhere near normal. I was going to Gallagher Academy; most people think that it is just a school for snobby rich girls. (This in my opinion is somewhat true) But it is not. It's a school for spies.

Yes, the kind of spies you're thinking of. The kind that are the heroes in all the movies, but in real life are just taken as normal people. Every female spy has started out here: Gallagher Academy.

I sighed. I didn't know what was wrong with me. I had been waiting for this day ever since I got my admission letter to Gallagher Academy. Every day I had been practically wide awake at night in my anticipation… why was I feeling so hopeless and lost?

Maybe it was just the first day jitters. Or the fact that I was the first Gallagher Girl to ever come from a family that was… normal. My family is completely normal, sure we've served in the military many times, but most of my family had normal jobs, dentist, nurse, teacher, etc. None of us have done anything like _this_. Honestly I don't know why Gallagher Academy picked _me_, out of every girl in the world why did they pick a girl from Montana?

I felt like slapping myself, _"Snap out of it Marina! Instead of questioning it just be grateful that something so wonderful is happening to you." _But it didn't kill my unease, I've always been paranoid… this just seemed one of those 'too good to be true' instances. Before I could think of anymore we came to it finally, Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women. I stared at the tall ivy covered wall that surrounded the estate. The wrought iron gates were open, allowing the limos to bring in all the other girls coming to the school. I could see the other girls looking at the great building ahead of us with a bored look on their faces, as if they had been to a million different schools just like this.

The road we were on was about a half mile long, and ahead of us was Gallagher Academy. The building was old fashioned (what do you expect? The school has been here for a hundred years) but it had a vintage look to it that was timeless. The grounds around it were perfectly manicured and managed, looking like a photograph. But I knew better, all of the grounds were covered with booby traps, lasers, explosives, and other things to keep unwanted intruders out. The limo came to a stop, I thanked the driver but he didn't respond, his face completely blank. I sighed, he was still not talking. I had tried to worm information out of him earlier but it seemed that the academy had ordered him (and probably the other drivers as well) to keep silent.

Everyone was rushing into the building in a big wave, carrying me along with them. I felt my heart rate pick up, too many people… I cursed myself. I hated crowds! I hated being around more than about twenty people, I get shy and claustrophobic. But luckily that wasn't a bad thing at a spy school; the whole point of being a pavement artist is not to be seen. What better way to do that than to not talk to anybody? So you can imagine how surprised I was when someone tapped my shoulder.

"Hey, do I know you?" Said a voice, I jumped and whirled around, people grumbled and went past me. There was a girl with long straight brown hair; she was wearing the school uniform (which was a blue plaid skirt with a blue short sleeved shirt with the Gallagher school crest with a long sleeve white shirt under it. Classic school uniform.) She had bright green eyes that made the perfect green grass by us look dull. I tried to hide how nervous I was, putting a confused look on my face.

"Um. No." I responded.

She laughed "Of course I don't know you! But I sure do want to." She held out her hand, "I'm Keyana but everyone calls me Kiki." She says cheekily.

I shook her hand, not wanting to be rude. "I'm Marina."

She smiled, "That's such a beautiful name! Don't worry I like my name- but Marina is just so unique!" My head was spinning, why was she talking to me?

"Um… thanks." I said.

She giggled, "You say um a lot."

I blushed, "Not all the time, it's just… I don't understand why you came up to me." I said. She looked up as if thinking.

"Well… I've never seen you before; you don't look like you recognize the school. So that would mean it was your first time here, but you don't appear to be a seventh grader!" She replied. I nodded.

"I'm fifteen… But this is my first time at Gallagher Academy."

Kiki nodded, "I figured as much, you'll have a lot of catching up to do since you've missed the first two grades… but you have to be really good for them to let you in this late! So I'm sure you'll do fine but if you ever need help feel free to ask. Bye!" With that she went skipping away, I just stood there absorbing what she said. I still couldn't believe that someone could say something so fast. Was that even physically possible?

I shook my head. I just needed to get to my room. With that, I grabbed my duffel bag off the ground where I had set it while talking to Kiki. It was kind of sad that these girls had at least three suitcases that they were dragging down the halls but all I had was a duffel bag. I started walking towards the headmistress's office. Or at least… what I hoped was the way towards the headmistress's office. Soon I got so far into the hallway that it was only me; it would be a relief… until I realized I was totally lost.

I groaned, this was pathetic, I was lost and I was supposed to become a spy that would have to memorize twists and turns in a blink of an eye. Well, I was already lost, might as well go exploring. I glanced at the pictures on the walls of past headmistresses. I looked at the first one, the current headmistress, Cameron Morgan Goode. I smiled, over the last couple months I have read every single one of her mission reports. I could understand why she was so famous, she and her friends Bex, Liz, Macey, and Zach (who is now her husband) had all single handedly taken down the Circle of Cavan… once and for all. I had thought that reading through all of the mission reports would be boring, but I didn't want to be ignorant of what the headmistress did… but I felt like I was reading a novel, a really good novel.

A voice broke my train of thought, "You lost?" For the second time that day I jumped and whirled around to see a stranger. She had long pitch black hair, her dark brown eyes had a no nonsense look to them. She was wearing the uniform, but along with it she wore leather boots, a worn looking jacket, and black eye shadow. If she only had some sunglasses on then she would look like a secret agent (no duh) or a juvenile delinquent. I wasn't going to let her know I thought that though. I just looked at her calmly.

"I was just looking around." No need to let her know I was lost either, that would just be embarrassing!

She glanced up to see what I was looking at, "I see that you already found one of the main secret passageways. Impressive."

This time I couldn't hold back my shock, "Secret passageway?" That was definitely not the right thing to say.

She looked at me like I just asked her how to breathe, "Yeah, secret passageway. There are at least a fifty, and probably a lot more undiscovered ones." She pushed on the nameplate that said _'Cameron Morgan Goode'_ and the picture swung open into a passageway.

Note to self: Start searching for secret passageways.

"Cool." I gaped, "Where does it lead?"

The girl shrugged, "I've never gone through it all, it's a long tunnel. But so far I know it leads to the library. I have no idea where else it leads." She pressed the nameplate again and the picture swung back into place. "Who are you?" She asked.

I looked up, "Marina Lockwell. Why?"

The girl shrugged again, "I've never seen you before, and you're the only person that isn't talking to other people about the five vacations to Europe you took over the summer. And you seem to be the only other person here that doesn't have a single friend." She tilted her head to the side, "I don't know what, but there's just something about you that I like."

She held out her hand, "I'm Daya Burns." I shook her hand, she then grabbed my hand and pulled me towards her, until my face and hers were inches apart, she said in a menacing voice, "But if you ever call me that, I will sneak into your room and murder you in your sleep. The name's Dae." I could tell by her face that she was dead serious.

"Okay… Dae," I said. With that she released me and stepped back.

"Okay Marina, now where is that you need to go?"

I sighed, "Was it that obvious that I was lost?" She nodded. I glared back; at least I knew that Dae was honest. She gave me a half smile at my reaction.

"Let me guess, headmistress's office?" I nodded, she started walking and I walked beside her. At least I had one friend in the school.

I glanced at myself in a large mirror we passed by, my long dirty blonde hair was down to my mid back, it was straight. Though I spent most of the time outside at our ranch in Montana, I still was pale. I have _very _fair skin; my blue eyes were the same blue as the pale blue of the sky, depending on what I wore would decide if my eyes looked more blue or gray. Sure, I was pretty, but I have always felt dull compared to the other girls. Plus, if there were even any guys here, why would they choose _me_ over all these girls that could fly them to _Europe_ for a date?

Dae finally showed me to a door that was made of a dark wood, but she was leaning against it. She put her finger to her lips, I immediately understood, what she meant, someone was in there talking to the headmistress, and whatever they were saying was interesting. I leaned into it next to her, listening. "… Do you think that's very smart?" I recognized it as Headmistress Goode's voice. The other was of a man that sounded about her age

"We need to stop keeping secrets from them, and it would be better to protect Miss Lockwell." Me and Dae exchanged looks.

She mouthed, _"Do you know what they're talking about?"_ I shook my head and we continued listening, I definitely listened more carefully.

Suddenly someone opened the door, and me and Dae went tumbling into the room. Dae sprawled on top of me, I looked up into the annoyed face of Headmistress Goode. I had read her mission reports (as I mentioned earlier) and she always insisted her mom was beautiful and she wasn't. Saying it was complete nonsense would be an understatement. She looked slightly amused though.

"Well, if it isn't Miss Lockwell. Oh and Miss Burns as well." The headmistress stated.

I stood up abruptly, "Oh my gosh! Sorry ma'am. I was just about to knock and Dae was leaning against the door and when you opened it she took me down with her."

Headmistress Goode looked surprised and smiled, "Well Marina, for a second you sounded like Keyana." She said, reminding me of how I had met her earlier. I glanced over at the man in the corner; he looked about twenty, the same age as Headmistress Goode. I almost gaped when I saw him, he was… well, he was _hot_. He had dark hair and bright green eyes; there was an air about him that made him seem like a leader. Also like a bad boy. Dae was also staring at him in bewilderment, Headmistress Goode smiled, "Marina, Dae, this is my husband Zach Goode. But you probably already knew that…" _He _was _Zach Goode_!? I guess I thought that Headmistress Goode was exaggerating a bit in her mission reports. I was _way _wrong.

Zach smiled at our reactions, "Well, you must be Marina Lockwell." He nodded at his wife. "Thanks for the introduction."

Dae then blurted out suddenly, "So it's true? Is there really a spy school for boys?"

Zach nodded, "Ever since we took down the Circle of Cavan I've been headmaster of Blackthorne. In fact, me and your headmistress, as I'm sure you overheard. Are planning to bring them here."

Dae seemed to regain her composure, "Wait, what does that have to do with Marina?" I saw a brief glimpse of emotion cross Zach's face, apparently he didn't think we overheard that little detail, but in the next instant it was gone.

"We have been discussing Miss Lockwell. We were hoping we could protect her from getting killed since she is so far behind in her studies." He smiled, "But what I've heard she is above average despite her lack of experience."

I felt myself blush, "Um, thank you." Dae was about to continue to questioning, but I gave her a look. I knew that they weren't going to cough anything up; we would just have to figure it out ourselves. There was something they weren't telling me, and I was going to find out. "When are they coming?" I asked.

Zach smiled, "Momentarily."

_(A/N) So I hope you have all enjoyed this chapter. If you like it, please review._

_The consistency of reviews will determine how frequently I update._

_Thank you~_

_NS_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Apparently what Zach meant by momentarily could mean anything. As I sat in the cafeteria it had been three hours after he said that. I listened to everyone around me speaking Arabic as I ate mashed potatoes and gravy with roast. It reminded me of home, I sighed. This was bad. My first day here and I was already homesick. Dae and I were sitting next to each other; she had already had three slices of pizza and was still going strong. Kiki was sitting by us; she was staring at how fast Dae was eating everything. I was surprised she came and sat by us, but I didn't keep her from doing so even though Dae didn't seem to like it.

"Do you even taste your food?" Kiki said in bewilderment.

Dae glared and nodded, "And it's delicious thank you very much." She replied angrily.

I rolled my eyes, "You both stop acting like little kids." I scolded, which reminded me of my mom… that's what she said to me and my brother when we were fighting.

They both turned to me in unison and said indignantly, "We're not acting like little kids!" I gave them a half-smile and continued eating mashed potatoes that I had smothered in gravy.

Headmistress Goode stood up and smiled, "Okay, girls, back to class." She said, all the girls got slowly to their feet and walked slowly out of the cafeteria.

Dae looked over at me, "What class do you have next Marina?"

I shrugged and looked at my schedule, "Um… P.E."

"Me too!" Dae and Kiki said in unison again, Dae glared at Kiki when she wasn't looking then whispered it again quietly. I couldn't help but smile. Dae punched me in the arm, hard.

"Hey! I'm going to have to use that arm later." I complained, grinning and rubbing my arm. Kiki laughed and skipped to catch up with us.

I looked around the warehouse that P.E. was in; the building's rafters were towering high above us. The warehouse was as big and wide as a football field, there was one wall completely dedicated to weapons, there were dummies and targets everywhere. And the whole floor was covered in placemats. There was a woman standing in the middle of the warehouse, she had a look to her that reminded me of Dae. She had a confident smile as she looked at us. Suddenly her eyes fell on me and there was a flash of emotion on her face but in the next second it was gone. "If it isn't Marina Lockwell," she said and looked me up and down. "… I was expecting you to be a bit taller…" She said I looked up indignantly; I was a _completely _average height.

She chuckled at my reaction, "Well, since you don't know: I'm Rebecca Baxter, I teach P.E. this year."

Kiki whispered in my ear, "She switches off between P.E. and Covert Operations." She explained.

Miss. Baxter stood up and pointed to me, "Since you're new let's see what you're made of. Come up first." She remarked and motioned me to stand beside her. I complied and put on a mask of indifference to hide how nervous I was. How was I supposed to beat girls that have been in combat training for the past two years and all I knew was a bit of karate and tai-chi?

"Miss Moore you will be facing Miss Lockwell." Miss. Baxter stated, at first I thought she was pointing at a scrawny girl that looked like a seventh grader but a girl started walking up and I barely kept myself from gaping. She was at least two heads taller than me and twice as wide, she was well toned and muscled. I was about to die.

Note to Self: Start learning how to defeat a goliath girl that would make a professional wrestler sweat.

Moore launched at me with more agility than I thought she was capable of, the first thought that came to my head was: _"Run!" _I know, not the most heroic move, but that was what I did, I ran until I was at least five yards ahead of her. Only then did I turn to see that I had made quite a gap between us and that she wasn't moving very quickly. _"That's it!" _I yelled happily in my mind, this girl may have brute strength but I had something she didn't _speed_.

I just stood there, waiting for her to come to me, Miss. Baxter looked intently and somewhat curiously at me as the girl came barreling towards me. As soon as the girl was a foot from me and was preparing to run me down I jumped out of the way. She swerved trying to grab me but she just ended up falling on her face. I pounced on her back and pushed all my body weight onto her.

"Let me go you-" She then said some very rude things about me in a very vulgar manner and flipped me off.

"Keep it school appropriate!" Miss. Baxter yelled at her, her voice echoing around me. I need to end this… I knew I couldn't keep Moore on the ground for long and when that happened Moore would punch me in the face so hard that I was sure that she would do some permanent damage. With that thought in mind, I panicked, without thinking I grabbed her arm and bent it at a cruel angle.

Moore screamed her voice echoing sharply around me, making me hesitate. I didn't want to hurt this girl… she was just like me after all. She just wanted to prove herself; she wanted to be worthy to be a spy. Seeing my hesitation Moore made her move. Moore grabbed my leg and pulled me viciously off her back with her free arm. I went tumbling a couple feet away; before I could get air back into my lungs she ran up to me and kicked me in the ribs. I screamed in pain, black coming in my vision.

She kicked me more, over and over, I felt tears stream down my face. I just wanted the pain to stop… I wanted it to stop. That's when I guess… I snapped; red clouded my vision. How _dare _she hurt me like this! I didn't want to hurt anymore and I wouldn't let her hurt me anymore. Using the pain as my drive I got to my feet in one smooth move and launched myself at Moore.

I caught her off balance and she went tumbling to the floor, I sat on her stomach, digging my knees into her stomach. Making it hard for her to breathe. I punched her in the nose with all my might. Moore screamed in pain more and blood started gushing out of her nose. I grabbed the same arm that I hurt before and put it at a painful angle once again and I held it there while she screamed. I was about to raise my fist up to hit her in the nose again but I looked at her again.

Tears were streaming down her face and mixing in with the blood gushing from her nose. She was struggling and screaming. Even though she had hurt me… even though I wanted to hurt her for the pain that was pounding in my ribs even now. The pain that was making me feel faint. But… we were on the same side. Despite everything she had done to me in the short minutes that felt like hours… the words echoed in my head. _We're on the same side…_

I couldn't do it; I stood up and held out my hand to Moore. I prepared to feel her grab my hand and pull me towards her so that she could make me feel a whole new world of pain. She looked at my hand as if she wasn't sure if it was a trap or not. With surprising gentleness she grasped my hand. I pulled her up with all my might, more black spots appearing in my vision.

We both walked slowly towards Miss. Baxter. I was preparing for her to yell at me, for her to ask me why I didn't finish her off. For her to tell me that what if Moore was an enemy? Would I do that in the line of duty and fail my country and die? But she didn't say anything, just stared at me with mixed emotions plain on her face. Shock? Pride? _Admiration_? I shook my head; I must have landed harder than I thought.

"Well Bex, if all your students act like that maybe you do have a chance at winning." Said a voice, I turned abruptly, the voice was Zach's. He stood there with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. He was looking at me, he seemed impressed. Wait, _what? _Zach Goode? _Impressed? _I had definitely fallen harder than I thought.

Zach walked towards us and revealed three boys that had been hiding in the shadows. How long have they been there? "I'm impressed Miss Lockwell and I don't say that often." Zach said, I could tell he was being honest by the expression on his face. But then he smirked, "But you're going to have to have more than one good student to beat my boys." He declared and turned to Miss Baxter challengingly. "I'm expecting you to have more up your sleeve than Miss Lockwell."

Now it was Miss Baxter's turn to brag, "That's cute you think there's a chance you can beat us Zach. Miss Lockwell is just one of many of our skilled students, though she is skilled." I smiled, enjoying getting so many compliments.

"We'll see." Zach stated and walked out with the three boys trailing him. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed that one of them was staring at me calculatingly his dark blue eyes piercing into me. I couldn't hold back a shiver. The boy had ruffled black hair that was as dark as night, a part of it partly flopped over his eye, he was a full head taller than me and I could see muscles through his shirt. He had pale skin and a defined jaw. Okay, I admit it, he was pretty cute. And it seemed a couple other girls thought so too because they were staring at him shamelessly.

He and I locked eyes for a second. I noticed how blue his eyes were, they seemed to be bottomless. So full of secrets and mystery, he seemed to peer into my soul. I didn't like it but I wasn't going to be the first to look away. That would be showing weakness, like those wolves on Animal Planet. One of the other boys tapped his shoulder and motioned for him to hurry up. When the boy looked at me again, one thing was apparent in his eyes. We were from different schools, and from here on out. _We were enemies. _


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

After that eventful class I went to the nurse's office, Kiki was beside me the whole time while Dae kind of hanged back. But following all the same. The nurse looked up as we walked in and said with a kind and quiet voice. "How can I help you young ladies today?"

I gave her a smile, "I just wanted to get something checked out, I had a particularly hard P.E. today."

She nodded in understanding, "Of course, have a seat."

I lay down as she examined my ribs; I looked in horror at the mirror when I saw a big and dark bruise bigger than my fist. That's when I guess I really started feeling the pain, tears clouded my vision and I shut my eyes tightly to keep any of them from leaking out. The nurse's eyes widened "Haven't seen one so big for a while."

Dae nodded, "I can't believe that you kept fighting after _that_. You were all like… gosh what's the word I'm looking for?" She said, obviously frustrated.

"You were like… _awesome_." Kiki finished for her in an awed tone, gaping at my bruise in amazement.

I looked down, feeling ashamed, "I don't know about that-" I started but Dae cut me off.

"Stop. I know what you're going to say, so just _don't say anything_. You did nothing wrong. You just taught that girl a well-deserved lesson." While she said that she was beaming proudly, almost like a proud parent.

I smiled, "Okay I admit it… it felt kind of good." Right after I said that I blushed, "But it shouldn't have. Hurting other people and enjoying it is wrong. I shouldn't find joy in hurting that girl."

Dae shushed me, "Don't worry about it, it's ok to be proud of a good fight." I found myself nodding in agreement, that's all it was. A fight. Just a fight. Nothing to sweat about. The nurse then dismissed us, saying that everything checked out, though I would probably be sore for the rest of the week.

As we walked down the hall I glanced up at the clock casually and gaped when I saw what time it was. "Oh my gosh I need to be in Covert Operations in two minutes!" I exclaimed and started running towards where Dae had told me the elevator was. I heard Dae and Kiki telling me goodbye and running to their classes.

When I got to the elevator I stopped suddenly, just staring. Covert Operations… one of the most vital classes of the kind of spying I wanted to take part in. I took a deep breath and pressed the button. My finger all of the sudden started tingling. Finger print scan? It dinged and said, "Identity Match, Marina Lockwell." Then the elevator started dropping rapidly. I grabbed the railing desperately for a second when I was caught off balance. The elevator doors opened slowly, I looked into the eyes of the entire class. They all stared at me as I stepped out of the elevator. Trying desperately to look casual and that I wasn't freaking out at all of these eyes centered on me.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw… _him_. The blue-eyed guy from before, he was staring at me again.

'_Oh great'. _I thought, _'why?'_

Why did the universe hate me so much it had to give me a class with _him_? I looked up at the teacher and to my shock it was Zach. Sitting in the desk in all his glory, smirking at me. "Good to see that you made it Miss Lockwell. Now take your seat next to Mr. Lake." He said, motioning to _him_. Good grief, what did I do to deserve this?

I begrudgingly went over to my seat and plopped into it, _he _smiled at me_. –Hey, he has a really good smile.' _I immediately banished the betraying thought. He held out his hand to me, "I'm Ian Lake." He smiled again, '_oh my gosh did he have dimples? So not fair!'_ If he had dimples that meant he could probably get away with anything. No wonder he's a spy.

"I'm Marina Lockwell." I replied, shaking his hand, not wanting to be rude. No need to be mean to someone when you didn't need to. He looked at the front of the room not saying anything else, I did the same. What was up with him? One minute he was talking and now he is dead silent. I shifted awkwardly in my seat as Zach started to speak.

"I bet you all think you're prepared for this class." He said, picking up a foam ball and throwing it in the air and catching it. "Well you're all _wrong_." Zach stated simply, he pulled out a gas mask and put it on his face. Suddenly a fog came into the room, completely covering the classroom in a matter of seconds. A couple of people were already unconscious; I pulled my shirt over my nose and mouth. My eyes were watering and I turned to where I knew the elevator was. I pressed the button and waited, my eyes burning and my lungs begging for oxygen.

It wasn't going to open, this classroom was underground. No air vents, no other doors, no way out. I was stuck. My heart started pounding in my chest. I glanced over at Ian he was just sitting calmly and breathing it in. He glanced at me, "Mr. Goode planned this, this is a lesson. There's not going to be a way out." He said and continued to breathe it in, his eyes drooping. "Man this is potent stuff." He added.

But I was amazed. He was just going to let this happen? He wasn't even going to try to escape? He sighed, "You shouldn't waste your energy." He said.

I glared, "It's not a waste if it's a real situation. The worst thing a spy can do is be captured." I retorted.

He shrugged, "Well this is probably to prepare us for that kind of thing." He was nodding off now. I sighed. He was right. I took a deep breath and immediately started to feel faint. How was Ian standing this for so long? I had only taken one breath and was already starting to go. I sat on the floor, taking deep breaths until the darkness came over me and I fell into a drugged oblivion.

oOo

My head was pounding. I looked around, feeling deluded and lost. Where was I? I looked around quickly, examining my surroundings. The rafters above us were rotten and looked like they were about to collapse on top of me at any second. It was completely empty, devoid of any sharp material that could cut through the ropes that I know noticed were digging into my wrists. I was sitting on an old wooden chair, my back to someone else. I felt my head against their back. "Who are you?" I asked.

"Oh you're finally awake, about time." Said a voice. Why? Why did it have to be _Ian_? He seemed to be able to read my mind because the next second he said, "Look, Kitten, I don't exactly want to be stuck with you either. But what do you expect? They probably paired you with me so I can teach you a thing or two."

I growled angrily at him, "I'm perfectly competent-" I started until I absorbed everything he said, "Wait, what did you call me?" I said in bewilderment.

"You mean '_Kitten'_?" He replied, sounding kind of amused.

"_Don't _call me that." I asserted angrily. Why was he giving me annoying pet names? "Where did you even get that nickname anyway?" I questioned.

I felt him shrug, "You just are so small and innocent. Kitten just seems to fit." I could almost feel his smirk.

"I'm _not _small!" I said and heard him laugh. I rolled my eyes. "Whatever just don't call me that." I finished.

"Whatever you say, _Kitten_." Ian replied, and laughed again as he heard me protest angrily. I watched out of the corner of my eye as he moved his leg up against my hand. "There's a pocketknife in my sock. Take it out." He said, this time I just complied and took out a Swiss Army Knife. I managed to get the blade out and awkwardly saw through the ropes. I smiled when I heard Ian yelp at the sudden pain when I accidently cut him with the knife. "You did that on purpose!" He said indignantly.

I chuckled, "Believe it or not I didn't. Though I kind of wish I did do it on purpose." I replied thoughtfully. He deserved it too. For just being a jerk. Why did I have to be stuck with him as a partner?

The ropes then fell off our wrists and we both stood up and rubbed our wrists. I looked around for a way out. But when I turned I saw that Ian was already going towards a door on the far side, "Where are you going?" I questioned.

"Out. That's the point isn't it?" He said, and tried to jiggle the doorknob. He glared at it, "It's locked." He stated.

I pushed him out of the way, "Let the _master_ do it." I said and took a bobby pin out of my pocket. I stuck it in the lock along with the pocket knife and listened carefully as I twisted the bobby pin and wiggled it around in various areas carefully (so I didn't break it) until I heard a click. "And… open!" I stated triumphantly as the door swung open.

Ian nodded grudgingly, "Where did you even learn how to do that with a bobby pin?" He asked.

I smiled, "I got bored and looked it up on YouTube one day. It has actually been very useful as you can see. And plus, we are at a _spy_ school." I said and got off my knees. He ignored the comment and we both walked into the dusty hallway. After standing there for a minute and not hearing any footsteps we walked to the right. I stepped carefully so that I didn't make a sound.

"You're even more like a cat than I thought. You even walk soundlessly." Ian teased. I punched him in the arm but didn't say anything as we continued. Ian, all of the sudden stopped me, pinning me to the wall. I tried not to think about how strong his arm was as it wrapped around me. Curse hormones! They're making me not think clearly!

Footsteps came towards us, clanking on the floor. Ian and I looked at each other. I immediately understood. I passed him the pocket knife and crouched by his feet, preparing for whoever was coming towards us. As soon as the two dark figures turned the corner I dived for their feet making them trip over me. They fell loudly on the ground. I jumped on top of the smaller one while Ian jumped on the bigger one and held the knife to the person's neck. "Where are we?" He growled threateningly.

The man stuttered, "I-In a warehouse off of campus in one of the ranches in Roseville." He was shaking. Ian knocked him out by hitting him on the side of the head with the butt of the pocket-knife. I took my hand off of the other person's mouth. I assumed it was a woman.

"What is the objective?" I asked. She spat in my face.

"As if I would tell _you_." She growled. I knocked her out as well.

Ian looked at me, "I think that before we get out of here we should try to get some information from the people that abducted us. That would probably be part of the mission." I nodded in agreement.

That was when we heard the gunshots. I looked up in shock as I saw two people running towards us—they were tied together—with a whole mob of people on their heels shooting at them. One appeared to be bleeding a bit. Ian and I exchanged looks.

"We have to help them-" I started but Ian interrupted me.

"They got caught. It's their own fault now they can pay for the consequences. Our job is to _not _get caught." He said. I opened my mouth to argue but he shushed me and pulled me into a dark closet right next to us. It was about the size of a small pantry you couldn't walk in. He and I were squished, me facing him and our chests touching and his back facing the door as gunshots rang just outside of it. I _really _tried not to notice his arms were around me and holding me to his chest.

Soon the gunshots faded. I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. Ian opened the door slowly and stepped out. "They're gone." He whispered. I stepped out with him.

"Where to now?" I asked.

Ian shrugged, "Well, when in doubt go forward." He said and started walking forward where the gunmen had run off to. I followed behind him, still trying to walk soundlessly. He glanced back from time to time to make sure that I was really there. I stopped for a second and put my hand on the wall, Ian glanced back at me. "What's wrong?" He asked.

I put my finger to my lips, "I think I hear something." I said and kept my hand on the wall. Was it… vibrating? Ian seemed to realize this too. He grabbed my arm and pulled me into a full sprint forward. My ribs were complaining loudly, screaming at me to stop, but I kept on running. What if it was the gunmen? What if they discovered that we were gone?

Ian then pulled us into another room; I took a quick glance around. It was just a bunch of computers, lined up against all the walls. They had a picture on the screens. I looked at it in horror. It was us. Us standing in the middle of this room and staring at the computers. I looked over at Ian and he looked equally horrified. Suddenly forms all dressed in black appeared out of the shadows. All pointing their guns straight at us. We were caught.

My breath caught in my throat. What happened if you failed a mission? Would they actually shoot? A computerized voice echoed above us. "Intruder alert!" My heart seemed to stop when the words came out. I heard the guns being loaded in unison, these things were robots. They would shoot.

In my fear I grabbed Ian's hand. I didn't want to die alone. To my surprise he didn't shake me off. He squeezed my hand back. I looked up at him and saw he was looking at me too. I squeezed his hand and closed my eyes. His face was going to be the last thing I ever saw. Not the bullet coming towards me, not my computerized murderers. Just _Ian_.

I knew they were going to pull the trigger. I heard their fingers creaking, about to pull the trigger when a voice echoed above them.

"Deactivate." Suddenly the guns all fell to the floor along with the robots in a heap. I opened my eyes and whipped around to see Zach, looking a little amused. Then Headmistress Goode appeared, she tsked when she saw us. "Miss Lockwell, Mr. Lake, you have detention for a month. I expect to see you in Mr. Goode's room every day after your classes for two hours." She grinned, "Now, if you both get back to campus in the next five minutes I might refrain from giving you another month of detention."

We ran out the door before she even finished her sentence.

'_Wait. We get detention for almost being _killed_?'_

_OoO_

_(A/N) I hope that you all have been enjoying this fan fiction as much as I have been._

_I've decided to stick to a schedule. They will either be uploaded Fridays or Saturdays. And maybe Thursdays if I have the time. _


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Later that day I sat in detention. Apparently the reason we were in detention was because Ian brought in a pocketknife. As Zach said the exercise was supposed to be about 'teamwork'. We were supposed to break the chair, then climb up the rafters, get onto the roof and climb down the side of the building. All while being tied up. Because we broke out of the room and weren't tied up the entire time we were put in detention. (She said knives weren't allowed at school. And my first thoughts were '_Wait. We go to a school where we deal with powerful lasers, automatic weapons, and nuclear bombs. And we can't bring a pocket knife to school!?')_ I told the headmistress that I saw two other people in the hall. Apparently they had managed to break out of their room by breaking the door down. But _they _didn't get detention because they were tied together the whole time.

And when I questioned why _I _was going to detention when _Ian _was the one that brought the knife, Headmistress Goode just said "_You're the one that used it_." So that was how I got stuck here.

I looked up to see Zach reading a book while tossing that foam ball from earlier into the air. The board read. **"I will refrain from making stupid decisions."** It was written in Zach's rather sloppy handwriting. According to him; I had to write it one million times. The door opened and Ian came into the room. He sat in the seat next to me. The sound of the chair moving was echoing loudly in the silent room.

Ian jotted something down on a paper and then passed it to me. I stealthily opened it and saw Ian's handwriting; it was almost as sloppy as Zach's_: '__Hello Kitten. I'm only writing this because I can't stand the silence and you're the only person I can talk to. If there were other people, don't worry, I wouldn't be writing this.'_

I gaped, how could he be so rude? I angrily jotted my own note and passed it to him.

'_Don't call me that! Plus, like you said I'm the only person you can talk to. So unless you want to start writing notes to yourself I suggest you start being nicer!'_

Ian wrote back quickly, '_Why Kitten? It's so fun to make you angry'_. He smirked at me as he wrote this. Oh it is on!

'_Because you're a jerk! Go find some other girl to bug constantly and I told you to stop calling me that!'_

'_Why would I do that? You're the only one I can piss off so fast.'_

'_You know what? Write notes to yourself you egotistical moron!'_

'_Ok, I'm much more entertaining to talk to anyway. And look who's talking.'_

'_Did you just call me an egotistical moron? What about me is egotistical? You're the one who's bragging about how interesting you are to talk to! And I was the one who picked the lock thank you very much!'_

'_You may have done that, but I was the one who brought the pocket knife.'_

'_That's why we're in this situation in the first place! Because you brought that stupid pocket knife!'_

'_So would you rather that we scrambled up to the roof while tied together?'_

That made me pause. Of course I was glad we didn't have to do that. But of course I wasn't going to let him know that.

'_Yes! Then we wouldn't have a month of detention!_' I smiled and passed it to him. It was true, now that I thought of it I think I would have rather done that than have to spend _two hours _more with him for a month then I would have had to otherwise.

Ian quirked his eyebrow when he read it and smiled somewhat evilly. _"… Why is he smiling at me like that?" _I wondered worriedly as he started jotting something down. He passed it to me with a confident smirk on his face. The paper creaked as I unfolded it, my eyes widened when I read it: _'__Wait… so you're saying that you would rather climb a roof with us __close__ together? ;)'_

He underlined the word 'close' multiple times. I blushed a deep red. I didn't mean it like that! Zach looked up at us. "Are you ok Miss Lockwell?" I nodded and I felt my face blush a deeper shade of red. Zach seemed to notice the piece of paper in my hand. _Oh please no. Anything else, torture, death, anything! _Ithought desperately as Zach sighed, "Let me see the note Miss Lockwell."

_Kill me! _I thought loudly inside my head, my legs seemed to move against their will towards the desk. _Run Marina! Run! _Screamed every single instinct I had. But I arrived to the desk and Zach took the note from me and unfolded it. I watched in horror as his eyes scanned our entire conversation with widened eyes. When he read that last comment made by Ian he burst out laughing. Tears streamed down his face as he kept laughing while my face went into a shade of red I never thought possible. _Ok, if there is anything fair in the world, please just let the ground swallow me!_

Zach handed the note back to me, tears still streaming down his face. "Y-you both get another week of detention. F-for passing notes." He choked out through his laughter and handed me the note back. As I walked back to my seat I noticed that Ian had been laughing as well. I bit my tongue before I could say anything I would regret.

oOo

As soon as detention was over I got out of the classroom as fast as I could without running. I shut the elevator door before Ian could even get out of his seat. I took deep breaths in the elevator. _Ian… I'm going to kill him. _I thought angrily as the elevator doors opened onto the main floor. I walked angrily and quickly down the hall, heading in the direction of where I shared a room with Kiki and Dae. Suddenly I heard a voice yell behind me.

"Marina wait!" I turned to see Ian running towards me. What did he want? He skidded to a stop next to me. He grinned at me. I started feeling butterflies erupt in my stomach. _Ugh! It's the dimples. Somehow they're making me lose my common sense! _

"What do you want?" I growled angrily. Didn't he put me through enough embarrassment already?

He smiled and replied, "You didn't answer my question."

I quirked my eyebrow, "What question?"

Ian put his face really close to mine and I couldn't back up because my back was already against the wall. "Would you rather climb a roof with us _close_ together than be in detention with me?" He said referring to the note that he gave me earlier.

I felt myself blush again, "Y-you know I didn't mean it like that!" I stuttered.

He shrugged, "Are you sure you're just not head over heels in love with me?"

I glared at him intensely, "Are _you _sure that you're not just being a moron?" I said and pushed him away and resumed walking down the hallway. He jogged to catch up with my quick walk. He opened his mouth to say something else that I'm sure was to torment me further when a yell echoed down the hall.

"There you are Ian!" Came a voice, me and Ian turned to see two guys run towards us, I recognized them from P.E. earlier. The guy I assumed spoke smiled at me. His green eyes glinted as he looked at me, his blonde hair had a windswept look to it, and the tips of his blonde hair were dyed bright red. He was a whole head taller than me and the same height as Ian and was pretty muscular. He had a rebellious look to him; he seemed like the-rules-are-only-guidelines kind of guy. He definitely good looking.

The other guy was hot as well; he had light brown hair that flopped over one of his eyes boyishly. The one eye that was visible was grey, his arms were very muscular, he had broad shoulders, and his muscles were _very _defined. He had his jaw firmly shut, he didn't seem like a boy of very many words, he reminded me of a hard working (and hot) cowboy. He just had that look to him. He gave me a half smile. Why did all the Blackthorne boys have to be so… _hot_?

Rebel guy smiled at me, "Oh Ian, why didn't you tell me that detention was full of pretty girls?" He said and winked flirtatiously.

Ian rolled his eyes, "Well Marina these are my friends-" he started but Rebel guy interrupted him.

"I'm Jay, and Marina, are you going to give me your phone number or will I just have to stalk you?" He flirted. I found myself blushing.

Cowboy guy rolled his eyes but didn't say anything besides, "I'm Griffin." I smiled at his cute southern drawl. It seemed I had assumed right about him.

Ian punched Jay in the arm, "Leave her alone Jay, this one's mine." He said in a joking manner. I think my blush went to impossible proportions.

"W-what! That's not true! I'm not property!" I managed to say.

Jay looped his arm through mine, "Well I like to steal stuff. Especially girl's hearts." He said and winked at me again, "So about the phone number-" he started again but Griffin cuffed his ear before he could finish. I was starting to like this Griffin. He seemed to be the only one with any sense in this trio. Jay jumped away from me and rubbed his ear, "Griffin! What was that for?"

Griffin didn't look like he wanted to talk but explained simply, "For being a moron." I smiled at him showing him I was grateful, he just nodded in return. He was definitely hard to read.

Ian smiled at the exchange, "Well Marina, seems you're a bit more skilled than I thought, you actually managed to make Griffin say more than one sentence." In response Griffin glared and cuffed him behind the ear too. Ian smiled, "Then again, Griffin once told me actions speak louder than words." He rubbed his ear as he said this.

I grinned at each of them in turn. But my heart was pounding with how nervous I was. Who wouldn't be while surrounded by three cute guys? (I had decided to admit at this point that Ian _was _kind of cute, but that didn't change the fact he was an egotistic brat.) "Um, I have to go. My roommates will wonder where I have gone. Bye!" I said as quickly as I could (reminding myself of Kiki) and started walking away quickly before I ran into someone and fell to the floor. Sending pain into my ribs.

"Sorry! Marina are you ok?" Said a familiar voice, I looked up to see Dae and Kiki. Dae seemed to be the one that spoke.

"Y-Yeah I'm fine." I stuttered and got up; I tried not to wince when my ribs protested. But I was no longer the source of their attention they were both starting at Ian, Jay, and Griffin. Kiki -for once- seemed at a loss for words. Jay immediately took the opening and came up to us.

"Seriously Marina? How many other hot girls besides you are there?" He said and winked at Dae, "Hey babe." Dae for one seemed to regain her composure and glared at him. She walked up to him and crossed her arms across her chest.

"Look hot shot, _don't _call me _babe. Ever_. In fact, don't talk to me at all. Now if you'll excuse us, we have more important things to do than to entertain you jokers. Come on Marina." Dae retorted and grabbed Kiki's arm and mine and started dragging us down the hall at a very quick pace.

oOo

"Who _are _those guys?" Kiki said; plopping onto her twin sized bed that was covered in pale pink and white sheets that she brought from home. I smiled, she looked genuinely frazzled. I followed suit and fell gracelessly onto my bed.

"They're _Ian's _friends." I replied. Making sure that my annoyance was apparent in my voice.

Dae smiled mischievously, "Oh, who is this _Ian_?"

I found myself blushing, "I-It's not like that Dae! He is an arrogant, selfish, egotistic-" I started but Dae shushed me.

"Ok, ok, I get it! Which guy is Ian?" Dae was still smiling, and the way she said it told me that she didn't believe me in the slightest.

"Whatever, think whatever you like! But you're wrong! He's the one with black hair." I replied and put a pillow over my face. "It's awful! I'm going to be stuck with him in detention for a month and a week because we brought a stupid pocketknife to the training exercise in CovOps!" I groaned in distress.

Unfortunately neither of them felt for my plight, Kiki giggled excitedly. "What are you complaining about Marina? You get to spend two hours with a hot guy _for longer than a month_! I bet other girls would kill to be in your shoes!"

"Let them go ahead and take my place! In fact, they can have him! He's just a selfish brat!" I said and waved dismissively, turning away from them. Maybe someone in my dreams will have more sympathy for me than my friends. With that I threw my blankets over my head.

Dae ripped them off viciously, "So you're saying that all you feel for the guy is that he's a selfish jerk? That's it?"

I looked up, "I'm glad that you've finally caught on." I said and buried my head in my pillow again. Couldn't they just leave me in peace? All I wanted was a nap right now. Maybe then I would have some of my common sense back.

Kiki smiled and whispered to Dae, "She's totally in love." That comment sure made me get out of bed.

I stood up as fast as I could, getting my legs tangled in the blankets that were now on the floor. I scrambled to my feet and glared at them as intensely as I could. "_Look. _I would rather be pulled over hot coals than hang out with Ian for _one minute. _So _don't you dare _say that I like him. Because I _don't_."

They stared at me as I plopped back into my bed. I closed my eyes and smiled, glad that I made how I felt about Ian clear. I furrowed my brow. But why did it feel so much like a lie?


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Light poured in from the nearby window, it seemed to prick at my closed eyelids. I sighed and allowed my eyes to flutter open. To my surprise it seemed to be morning, I groaned and rolled out of bed and plopped onto the soft rug on the floor. "What time is it?" I mumbled, until I noticed that Kiki and Dae weren't in the room. Huh, must have slept all the way through dinner and through the night. I must have had more jet lag than I thought. I checked the clock and stood up on unsteady legs as fast as I could without falling back down!

P.E. started in five minutes! I had slept through breakfast! I was going to kill Kiki and Dae. My stomach protested loudly as I quickly put on my P.E. uniform. I brushed thorough my hair and threw it up in a ponytail as I ate a granola bar that I found in my bag from home. I ran through the hall at full speed while crunching on the last of the granola bar.

I ran across the lawn as fast as my legs could carry me to the warehouse. I stumbled in as soon as the bell rang across school grounds that everyone should be in class. The eyes of the entire class bored into me as I stood up unsteadily. The first thing I noticed was that there were… _guys _in the warehouse. They all wore a different gym uniform than us. It had the Blackthorne school crest on it. Miss Baxter smirked, "Good to see that you've decided to join us Miss Lockwell."

Straightening my back so I wasn't slouching I replied. "I apologize Miss Baxter, I, um, slept in longer than I meant to. It won't happen again."

Miss Baxter smiled, "Make sure it doesn't Miss Lockwell." Then she turned to the rest of the class. "We will be pairing each of you with one of the Blackthorne boys to see how each of you fare with fighting someone bigger and probably stronger." She then started pairing people off; I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Griffin, Jay, and Ian were all looking at me from the corner. I also noticed Kiki and Dae in the opposite corner, I inched towards them.

As soon as I was right next to them I glared, "Thanks for waking me up this morning." I accused sarcastically.

Kiki looked down guiltily, "You were tired… we didn't want to wake you up. Plus you seemed kind of upset."

Then I felt kind of bad for being so harsh, I sighed, "Forget about it. It's fine. No harm, no foul right?" I turned my attention back to Miss Baxter as she continued pairing people. I watched as Griffin was paired with a girl with very toned muscles, she wasn't as big as the girl I faced yesterday, but she seemed smarter than the girl I faced yesterday. Miss Baxter turned her attention to our corner.

"Miss Burns, you fight Mr. Hawkins." She informed Dae pointing to Jay. I smiled, Jay Hawkins. Funny. Dae on the other hand looked very angry about this, but she didn't complain as she walked slowly towards Jay who had a smirk plain on his face. Miss Baxter paired Kiki with a boy that was standing near us. And then she turned her attention to me, _please, please, anybody but Ian! If there is anything fair in the world please don't let it be Ian! _"Miss Lockwell, you fight Mr. Lake." _WHY!? _I nodded and slowly walked towards Ian, I dragged my feet.

Ian smirked at me as I came towards him, I shot him a glare. This only made his smile wider. I sighed, "Let's just get this over with." We both went to the middle of the warehouse with the others.

We both looked at each other,Ian sighed, "Couldn't your teacher find someone stronger for me to fight?"

I glared, "Why? Am I not tough enough for you?"

Ian nodded, "You're too soft. If this was a real situation and I was really trying to kill you, you wouldn't be able to kill me."

"What makes you think that? I would do it." I retorted.

He shook his head, "I'll show you." Just as he said that Miss Baxter signaled everyone to begin. Out of the corner of my eye I could see that Griffin had already taken out his opponent. I was surprised; I had heard from Dae that she was one of the best students. Ian saw me looking and said, "Griffin is the best fighter in our school. He could take care of any of you in seconds."

"Good thing we're all on the same team." I retorted. And with that I tried to kick his legs out from under him. Ian saw it coming and trapped my leg in-between his. He then did a flip bringing me with him; I hit the floor with a thump the breath knocked out of me.

Ian smirked, "For one, you're too predictable. You always take the way to take your opponent out in the least painful way." I twisted and got my leg out of his grasp and got to my feet, he charged at me, moving incredibly fast. I barely managed to get out of the way. I grabbed one of his arms as he started passing me. I was planning on him still racing past me, but he came to an easy stop and used me grabbing his arm to his advantage. He pulled me towards him and hugged me to his chest.

He smirked into my hair, I struggled in the strong hold he had me in. "If I was a real enemy, you would be dead now." He whispered into my ear, his hot breath tickled my neck. I shivered involuntarily, I felt his smirk deepen. _Focus Marina! He's an enemy remember? _Screamed one part of my mind while the other part of it seemed to scream against the other _Ian… he's so close to me. _I told the latter part of my mind to shut up and I flipped Ian over my shoulder and onto the ground. He fell with a thump.

I jumped on top of his stomach, digging my knee into it, hoping to knock the breath out of him and render him helpless. But he just smirked and pulled me on top of him. Our faces were now only an inch apart. My heart seemed to stop as I gazed into his blue eyes. My mind turned to putty. Ian flipped me over so that I was under him, he pinned my arms to either side of my head. He wrapped his legs around mine. I was completely helpless.

He put his face closer until his lips were almost touching mine, only centimeters apart. "If I was a real enemy. It wouldn't matter how pretty you are, what you're doing, if you deserve to die or not. You would die. And I wouldn't hold back. And I _know _that if you had me pinned down like this, if I was completely at your mercy. You wouldn't be able to kill me. You would hold back. And you would _die_." His eyes were hard as they gazed into mine. My heart thumped in my chest at his closeness. Ian seemed to be able to see into my soul, there was an emotion in them that I didn't recognize…

"Hey! Keep it school appropriate!" Came a voice, breaking us out of our trance. Ian scrambled off the top of me, and I scurried to my feet. I turned to see that it was Miss Baxter, who seemed amused. _Oh my gosh! Kill me! _I thought to myself. I was sure that I was blushing. Not for the first time I wished that I didn't have such pale skin. Then my blush might not be so apparent on my face.

I saw Jay and Dae out of the corner of my eye; Jay was giving Ian a thumbs up. _Good grief. _I thought. _Can the ground swallow me now? Please?_ Kiki was smiling at me. Miss Baxter chuckled at our expressions and said. "Class dismissed." Just before the bell rang.

oOo

Kiki started rambling as we started going to lunch. Today had been a long day and I had only been to four classes! I was glad that I could finally relax and eat lunch, I was starving! I got a grilled cheese sandwich as Kiki kept talking even though I wasn't replying. "… Then the experiment blew up in her face! It was so funny! But I'm sure she was embarrassed. Anyway, the next class I have with Griffin! He sits right next to me! He's so cute. He never talks and just takes notes. But his hair always flops over his eyes when he looks down. It's so cute! And have you seen his eyes-" She started, but Dae interrupted her.

"Will you stop talking about Griffin! He's the enemy remember?" She said, exasperated. That made me pause.

"No we're not. We're all going to be serving our country when we're older. We're all on the same team." I said calmly and grabbed an orange and banana.

Dae turned to me, "I forgot… you didn't hear." She said sadly.

"Didn't hear what?" I tried to say it calmly but I'm sure that my worry was apparent in my voice.

Kiki was the one that replied, "Oh, the headmistress announced this morning that the reason that the Blackthorne boys are here is that we're having a competition. Which is the better school? And she mentioned your name."

"Why did she mention my name?" I asked almost tripping as she said this.

"Oh, something about the school counting on you and others that are especially good to keep the name of Gallagher Academy from being tarnished or something like that." She said nonchalantly. _Yeah, no pressure or anything. _Came the sarcastic thought.

I plopped down in a seat and now looked at my food, my appetite gone. "So… what are we supposed to do to win?" I asked.

"At a random time each week we have an assignment we do, and whatever school finishes first wins." Dae replied calmly. I sighed. Good. I didn't ruin anything when I lost to Ian in P.E. I managed to choke down a couple bites of my grilled cheese sandwich. I smiled, ok; Ian may have beaten me once. But I wouldn't let Headmistress Goode down, no matter the odds stacked against me.

"Dang, if being sexy is a crime, you'd be guilty as charged!" Said a familiar voice in my ear, I jumped at least a foot in the air and dropped me sandwich on the floor with a thump. I whirled around to see Jay, my heart pounding in my chest.

As soon as I saw it was him though I just glared, "Don't do that!" I said, angrily.

Jay chuckled, at my reaction, "Sorry Marina couldn't help myself. You were just so unsuspecting." He sat right next to me, and he winked at Kiki and Dae. They both just started eating again. Completely ignoring him, I watched as Griffin soon appeared and pushed Jay off the seat and then sat in it. "Ow!" Jay whined.

Griffin ignored him and just took a bite out of his sandwich. Ian appeared at my other side and sat down. "Thanks Griffin." He said, Griffin just nodded and continued eating.

"So are you Ian?" Kiki asked.

Ian smiled, "Yeah, why?"

Kiki smiled, "Good! Marina has told me and Dae so much about you!" I then decided that Kiki would die a slow and painful death.

Ian glanced at me, "Did she now?" He said mischievously.

Kiki nodded vigorously, "Yep, like how-" before she said something embarrassing or disastrous I put my hand over her mouth.

"How about we go to class now. Is that the bell? I think that's the bell. Come on you two!" I said quickly, grabbing Kiki and Dae's arms and dragging them from the table. Even though I heard Dae whine that she wasn't finished with her sandwich yet. And I ignored the chuckles behind me that came from Jay and Ian, while Griffin smiled at me sympathetically.

Whew, really dodged a bullet with that one.

oOo

After classes I moped down the hall, my hands would have been shoved in my pockets but much to my dismay I remembered I was wearing my school uniform. So I just slouched. My stomach rumbled loudly, I glared at it, as if I could intimidate it into silence. The last thing I felt like doing right now was going to dinner. Even though I wanted to hear Kiki telling me about her day, I wanted to see Dae roll her eyes and eat her third helping of some type of food, I even wanted to speak in Italian with an Italian accent (that's what the board said we were speaking at dinner tonight).

But every time I thought of seeing Ian my stomach seemed to have a whole different feeling, as if a million butterflies had taken flight in my stomach. Was I developing some sort of fatal illness?

Note to Self: Study illnesses that have to do with seeing a certain guy. Surely there's _one_.

But most of all I didn't want to face him; he surely had heard the rumors that had spread through the school like a wildfire. (It is a _girl _school after all) Every single period was a different rumor: "Hey Marina! Is it true that you and Ian kissed in the middle of P.E.?" "I heard that you and Ian made out and then he-" I didn't even bother letting that person finish.

And even though I _assured _everyone that Ian and me didn't do _anything. _The rumors still kept getting more and more unreasonable. I was even contemplating never going into public ever again. Dae could start sneaking me food! It would be perfect!

At that moment I found myself grasping for anything to grab onto as I started to fall. I fell to the floor with a loud thump. "Ow…" I groaned and rubbed the back of my head, I used a nearby loose stone to help myself to my feet, but as I put weight on it I felt it push in. Then the sound of grinding stones resounded through the empty hall as a doorway appeared in front of me, I looked at it in amazement. The stones inside the hallway were damp, dark, and cold. Unlike anything else in the academy. So I did the only sensible thing, I went down it.

As soon as I stepped in the passageway I noticed another loose stone, I pushed it and the stones grinded together once again. Leaving me in the dark. I shivered and rubbed my arms, wanting to keep warm. There was no light, so I felt my way along the wall. The cold seemed to seep into my soul, the damp stone making my hand start to go numb. But I didn't care at the moment. I just wanted to escape for a moment, I wanted to escape this school for a while, and I wanted to divulge myself in my unquenchable curiosity of where this tunnel leads. And that was all it took to get me to forget the rest of the world for a precious moment.

I heard running water, it sounded almost like the creek running over the stones at my best friend Clara back at Montana. It brought back the memory of one fateful winter…

_"Marina! Wait up!" I turned to see my best friend Clara, I grinned giddily at my lead. Clara came to a stop beside me. Her brown hair the color of bark that looked extremely dark against the snow and deep brown eyes of the same color. _

_I lay on the snow beside her, "You're such a slow poke." I teased, she punched my shoulder and I yelped in surprise. She giggled; I glared at her, my pride bruised._

_"Race you to the creek!" She said suddenly and took off at a run and I sprinted after her, I wouldn't let her win. Soon we were neck in neck. And we came to the creek, it was a bit too wide to be considered a creek, and it lead to a small lake. I grinned at her mischievously and stood on the ice of the creek, daring her to come onto it with me. And I heard it creak, which sent my adrenaline pumping. But I wasn't worried, I was nine years old. I would be fine._

_"Come on Clara! Don't be a scaredy cat!" I taunted, she glared and took a cautious step onto the ice. It creaked loudly; she took a deep breath and took another couple steps until she almost was to me. Suddenly there was an abnormally loud creak; I froze as I saw cracks appear in the ice. Me and Clara looked at each other, panic on both of our faces. She moved even more cautiously backwards. More cracks appeared around her feet, the loud sound of ice rubbing against each other._

_Clara made it across she collapsed on the safe haven of the shore, while I stared at my feet in horror as the cracks moved around me, looking more deep, water seeping through the cracks like blood, pooling by my feet. I didn't dare to breathe. My breath caught in my throat, I was completely frozen by fear. Clara yelled to me, "You can do it Marina! Hurry!"_

_I tried to break through the fear that was burying itself deep in my soul; I took a deep breath and took a step. A loud crack sounded, but I didn't find myself falling into the water. So I took another step, then another, then another… I forced myself to only concentrate on that as I made slow progress across the creek. I was about to take my last couple steps when I heard a crack unlike anything I had ever heard. It was as loud as thunder and happened as fast as lightning._

_The ice gave out underneath me, the water feeling as cold as death as it enveloped me like a blanket. I saw the light above the surface, I fought to get back to the surface but I didn't get any closer to the thin wall separating me from life. I saw strands of my blonde hair floating above me, as if it was trying to get to the surface too as I fell farther and farther… my lungs burned. I felt all the hope leave me. I was going to die… I was too young to die! Numbness started to overcome me, everything seemed heavier to move. My movements were clumsy and slow._

_Suddenly arms wrapped around me, strong arms, I gasped as I was pulled out of the water's cold embrace. I felt myself being pulled to someone's chest, their warm breath tickling my neck. I opened my eyes to look into the warm brown eyes of my brother. They were a light brown that seemed to melt my insides, worry overcame his handsome features, his dirty blonde hair soaking wet, it dripped onto my face like rain. He hugged me to his muscular chest._

_"Don't ever do that to me again Marina." He said, his voice cracking with worry, I didn't reply, I just hugged myself to him and sobbed._

I shook myself out of the memory and shivered again. That was a horrid day; I haven't been able to go close to running water since that day. I hadn't even been swimming! So for the better part of six years I haven't been in any water deeper than my bathtub. (It's actually harder to avoid than you'd think.) The thing that had summoned the memory was how cold it was. I had gotten hypothermia from that so this reminded me of how cold I had been. I grasped the wall desperately, the dark was utterly complete.

Note to self: Start keeping flashlight on person at all times.

Just as that thought came to me I felt a body ram into me. I fell onto the damp stone, the water seeping into my clothes. The body seemed bigger and more muscular than me; I knew that I would have to use their weight against them to overcome the person. But before I could do anything they pinned my arms to the sides of my head. I screamed in vain, hoping that maybe someone would be nearby to help me. The person paused, and I noticed they were about to stab me with… a pocket knife?

"Marina?" Said the familiar voice.

"Ian?" I replied with shock. Ian had just tried to kill me!

"What the h-" He started to say but I interrupted him.

"Why did you just try to _kill _me?" I exclaimed.

Ian looked down at me with his blue eyes that seemed to shine even in the darkness, "I… I thought you were someone else." He said uncertainly.

"Who did you think I was? How did you even _find _me?" I asked, a million questions swirling in my mind. How did he find me? This was a secret passageway for heaven's sake!

Ian sighed, "Look Marina, I'm sorry about this. But don't _ever _do that again. You can't just disappear like that!" He said worriedly, I quirked my eyebrow. Ian worried? Now I _knew _something was wrong. I opened my mouth to say something but Ian cut me off. "Marina… don't argue with me." He growled, as if he was barely holding himself back. "I don't care what you think right now. Just let other people do what's best for you, for once in your life let other people make the decisions." He said angrily, I was frozen under his gaze.

He seemed to notice he was still on top of me and scrambled to get to his feet, as soon as he was on his feet he pulled me up with him. Ian didn't say another word as he pulled me back down the secret passageway; his grip was like iron on my wrist. But it didn't hurt me.

I didn't argue with him, I didn't fight him; I was too deep in my own thoughts. This was one of those times when you knew that no one was going to give you information. I remembered when Headmistress Goode and Zach were talking, they had mentioned me too, somehow they were in on this. For some reason they were worried about me, something was going on. And I was going to find out.

I smiled; I _am _a spy after all. It's my job to know things.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

**Summary of Surveillance**

_Operatives: Marina Lockwell, Daya Burns, and Keyana Barrows (hereafter referred to as "The Operatives")_

_Operative Marina Lockwell, after observing the suspicious behavior of a Blackthorne boy, known as Ian Lake. Along with Headmistress Goode and Zach Goode. She decided to inform operatives Daya Burns and Keyana Barrows of this suspicion and they came to the conclusion that until their suspicions were either confirmed or proved wrong they will keep constant surveillance on the following Blackthorne boys: Ian Lake, Griffin Knight, and Jayden Hawkins (a.k.a. Jay). These boys will from here on out be known as The Subjects. _

_Through much eavesdropping, and other sources of finding information without actually stealing anything they found the following information:  
Subject Griffin Knight is the master of the following fighting styles: Jujitsu, Karate, Taekwondo, Kick boxing, Street Fighting, Kung Fu, and also many forms of Japanese fighting techniques. And much of Subject Griffin Knight's past is a complete mystery; all The Operatives know is that he has been going to Blackthorne Academy only for two years and immediately became one of their best students despite his lack of training._

_Subject Jayden Hawkins on the other hand, has been at Blackthorne Academy since he was five years old. Much of his past is in question also._

_The Operatives have no information on Subject Ian Lake besides he is one of the most feared opponents in Blackthorne Academy along with the other two Subjects._

Dae collapsed onto the bed beside me, "We're not getting anywhere." She said tiredly.

Kiki immediately argued, "We know that Griffin is apparently a very good fighter. Which is always good to know." After saying this she kind of looked dreamily into the distance, probably daydreaming about Griffin saving her with his amazing karate skills.

I looked sadly up at the ceiling, because Dae was right. Even though for the past three days we have been gathering as much information as we can we have not gotten much farther information wise. There was too much mystery surrounding these three boys, we needed to get better information. Something that is more risky. "I know what we need to do." I said solemnly.

Dae glanced at me, "What's your brilliant plan?"

I smiled, "We need to keep them under surveillance."

Dae grinned evilly (I couldn't help but be worried that she was happy about this.) Kiki on the other hand, seemed completely mortified and started blushing. "W-We're going to put cameras and recorders… in their _rooms_?"

I nodded and grinned almost as evilly as Dae. "Think of it this way Kiki, we might catch Griffin taking his shirt off." She blushed deeper and turned away from me. Obviously she was embarrassed that I had mentioned it.

"We are _not _doing that! It's like… stalking!" She said angrily.

I glared at her, "Well do you have a better idea?" Kiki opened her mouth to respond but Dae interrupted.

"Crap! We're going to be late!" She said; I whipped around to see the clock. We had P.E. in ten minutes! I was _so _tired of this. We all had seemed to get a rhythm, I would brush my teeth while Dae put her hair in a ponytail while Kiki put on her gym uniform and we switched as soon as I was done brushing my teeth and so on. And as we ran down the lawn to class we would look over each other quickly to make sure that we at least looked decent.

As we barged into the class barely on time I noticed another thing, the boys weren't there. None of them were there. _Where's Ian? _The thought came before I could stop it; if I could punch my sub conscious I would have done it.

Miss Baxter didn't even look up, "Miss Lockwell, I don't think you could be on time if your life depended on it. And trust me, in the field it will." She didn't wait for us to reply, she loaded the rifle in her arms. "Now girls, one of the things that does not come up much in normal class is how important it is to know how to shoot a gun. It is essential in the field to specialize in different weapons. It can be life or death."

She turned towards me, "Miss Lockwell. Do you have any weapon experience?" I shifted uncomfortably.

"Actually… I do." As soon as I said it I was annoyed that my voice was so small and how I sounded so frightened.

Miss Baxter looked surprised but replied, "In what weapon?"

I gulped, "Sniper rifle, dagger, and bow."

She quirked her eyebrow, "That is a strange array of weapons." She said, and then motioned me to the wall of weapons. I knew what she wanted. I tried to walk confidently but I was sure that everyone could tell I was nervous. But at least I didn't look like how I felt inside, inside I felt absolutely terrified.

I glanced at the weapons until I came to a very nice sniper rifle and took it off the wall. "Excellent choice." Miss Baxter commented, I didn't respond. I just went over to the shooting range and started loading it. The metal was cold in my hands, I couldn't help but thinking about how this weapon was like a dangerous animal. A big animal that could turn on me at any second.

Air rushed into my lungs as I breathed in and out. Just focusing on the task at hand. "What target?" I asked Miss Baxter.

"That one." She pointed to one that was about as far away as half of a football field. No big deal. I looked through the scope. I felt the gun settle into place, as if it belonged there. In seconds I had the target in my sights. My finger pulled the trigger and I already knew I hit it.

Miss Baxter whistled, "Head shot." She pointed to a target that was moving and was about forty yards farther. "Now shoot that one."

I nodded, and reassumed my position. I kept my hands steady, keeping myself focused. I didn't think, I just breathed. In… out… in… out… in… Now! I pulled the trigger and the bullet shot off as soon as the target came out from behind a brick wall that was on the shooting range. Funny, I hadn't noticed that there before.

A hand clamped on my shoulder, "Excellent." Miss Baxter said. My hands started shaking. I shot someone… I shook my head, no; it was a paper target… just a target. Suddenly I heard the door slam open and I whipped around.

Now, I don't know who I was expecting to come charging into the classroom. But when I saw Madame Dabney. I'll admit it. I didn't exactly expect my Culture and Assimilation teacher to come into P.E. Ever. She wasn't exactly the type that I would expect to come into a smelly barn with sweaty girls smiling as if she was going to a ball.

"Yes Miss Lockwell, that _is _excellent. But we must be leaving now. I come in the place of Mr. Goode. He says to be ready in twenty minutes to go on a mission-" Madame Dabney started but Dae interrupted her.

"Um, Madame Dabney. Why are you here instead of Mr. Goode?" She asked.

Madame Dabney smiled, really smiled. "Because Miss Burns. We are going to a ball. And that category is my specialty."

oOo

And that, is how I ended up in a room in Madame Dabney's room that I had thought to be her office, but which turned out to be a room full of ball gowns. But they weren't ugly, they were all _gorgeous_. Apparently Madame Dabney had better taste than I thought. I watched in amazement as girls went through the dresses squealing with joy and trying different ones on and asking their friends if it looked ok. But I just stood there. Not exactly knowing what to do.

Dae finally grabbed my arm and dragged me from my comfortable seat in the corner. "Come on Marina! You can shoot a sniper rifle but you can't pick out a dress?" She said indignantly. I know; I'm pathetic.

Kiki stood in front of me suddenly and I gaped. She was wearing a beautiful deep green ball gown that brought out her eyes beautifully. There were green jewels sown into the fabric in the skirt making it sparkle in the light. She put her hair in a beautiful but kept some curls in her face. She looked like a princess.

That was when I noticed Dae was wearing a dress too. She was wearing a black dress that was made out of multiple layers of black lace. It brought out how pale her skin was and made her look kind of like a vampire or a beautiful queen of the underworld. She was just so beautiful that she looked like she didn't belong in this world.

And there was me. In my P.E. uniform. You can't exactly blame me for feeling a bit plain.

Dae tore me out of my pity party by throwing dresses at me and shoving me into a dressing room. "Try those on and don't come out until you find one you like!" Dae yelled when she closed the door.

"And don't forget to come out and show us!" Kiki added, I huffed and put on a light green dress. As soon as I was out of the door for five seconds Dae stated her opinion.

"No, try on the next one." Five dresses later and all the comments had been things like. "Too light." Or "Makes you look like a ghost." Or "_Way _too much purple." It went on like that for a while until I tried on the last dress.

It was a bright red dress, red rubies were woven through it, my skin seemed paler with it on. My blue eyes were really standing out. It looked like a dress a princess would wear but at the same time it seemed modern. It seemed to fit my figure perfectly. I smiled, I loved it. Now I just had to hope that it got past Dae's criticism.

I stepped out and braced myself for Dae to put another pile of dresses in my arms and demand that I try on more. But instead Kiki and Dae started gaping. Kiki looked me up and down and smiled widely. "You look gorgeous!" She said happily and hugged me. I smiled too and returned the embrace.

Dae shook her head, "She doesn't look gorgeous." I looked up and was about to argue when Dae smiled and said "You look _hot_." Her grin became mischievous then. "Ian won't be able to keep his hands off of you."

Did she seriously just say that? I glared at her and said "He better keep his hands to himself or he's going to die a painful death." I threatened and stopped embracing Kiki who just kept smiling.

"You look so beautiful! Ian definitely will like it! How could he not?" Kiki said.

"How do you know that he's even going to be there?" I snapped, irritated. They both just kept smiling, as if proud of themselves.

"Just come on Marina! We have a ball to go to." Dae replied and pulled me down the hallway. With Kiki on our heels.

_A/N_

_I apologize that this is a day late. My internet was down. But I appreciate all of your patience and I hope you all enjoyed._

_~NS_


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